KABUL , Afghanistan -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that his country would join the strategic review of the U.S.-led war on terrorism .

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai , right , meets with Richard Holbrooke in Kabul on February 15 , 2009 .

Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke , Karzai said he is `` very , very thankful '' that President Barack Obama accepted his proposal to join the review .

Holbrooke is visiting Afghanistan after a trip to neighboring Pakistan . Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tapped Holbrooke as special representative for the two countries , a signal of how the new administration considers Afghanistan and Pakistan intertwined in any solution to the war in Afghanistan and the terrorist threat along their shared border .

At the news conference in Kabul , Holbrooke said Sunday that he conveyed the administration 's support of the upcoming elections on August 20 , a date recently set by Afghanistan 's electoral commission .

`` President Obama and Secretary Clinton and the United States government were very gratified to hear President Karzai reaffirm his support of the August 20 decision , '' Holbrooke said .

Holbrooke 's visit comes as Obama plans to send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to fight what he 's called the `` central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism . ''

In an interview on CNN 's `` Fareed Zakaria GPS , '' which aired Sunday , Karzai said that , with a resurgent Taliban , a still-flourishing drug trade and a border with Pakistan believed to be home base for al Qaeda , his country ca n't afford for U.S. troops to leave any time soon .

`` U.S. forces will not be able to leave soon in Afghanistan because the task is not over , '' Karzai said . `` We have to defeat terrorism . We 'll have to enable Afghanistan to stand on its own feet . We 'll have to enable Afghanistan to be able to defend itself and protect for its security ...

`` Then , the United States can leave and , at that time , the Afghan people will give them plenty of flowers and gratitude and send them safely back home . ''

At the same time , Karzai said the actions of troops currently in Afghanistan have turned some of the public against them .

`` It 's the question of civilian causalities . It 's a question of risk of Afghans . It 's the question of home searches , '' he said . `` These activities are seriously undermining the confidence of the Afghan people in the joint struggle we have against terrorism and undermining their hopeful future .

`` We 'll continue to be a friend . We 'll continue to be an ally . But Afghanistan deserves respect and a better treatment . ''

While he said he welcomes additional U.S. troops , Karzai suggested they need to work along the Afghan-Pakistan border and in the poppy fields that fuel a drug trade that threatens to turn the nation into a narco-state -- not in the villages where most Afghans live .

`` We have traveled many years on . What should have happened early on did n't unfortunately happen , '' Karzai said . `` Now , the country is not in the same mood as it was in 2002 . And so any addition of troops must have a purposeful objective that the Afghan people would agree with . ''

The Obama administration is conducting several reviews of U.S. policy in Afghanistan , including a review by Gen. David Petraeus , the commander in the region . Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said the original mission in Afghanistan was `` too broad '' and needs to be more `` realistic and focused '' for the United States to succeed .

`` If we set ourselves the objective of creating some sort of central Asian Valhalla over there , we will lose , because nobody in the world has that kind of time , patience and money , '' Gates said during a recent Senate hearing .

He called for concrete goals that can be reached in three to five years .

Speaking via satellite from Kabul , Karzai called former President George Bush `` a great person , '' but said he can work with Obama -- despite the president 's comments as a candidate that Karzai had `` not gotten out of the bunker '' to improve security and infrastructure in Afghanistan .

`` President Obama is a great inspiration to the world , '' he said . `` The people of America have proven that they can really be the light holders for change and the will of the people in the world .

`` And his coming to power by the vote of the American people is a manifestation of that great power of the American people . ''

Karzai also acknowledged corruption in the Afghan government , but defended the work he 's done to combat it .

`` Sure , corruption in the Afghan government is as much there as in any other third world country , '' he said .

`` Suddenly this country got so much money coming from the West , suddenly so many Afghans came from all over the world to participate . Suddenly there were projects -- suddenly there were this poverty that turned into some sort form of prosperity for this country , '' he said .

He said a government department has been created to deal with corruption and that corrupt judges , administrators and other officials are dismissed `` daily '' over corruption charges .

@highlight

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says his country will help review of war on terrorism

@highlight

He says U.S. forces should n't leave Afghanistan soon since task is not over

@highlight

Karzai says civilian causalities , home searches have soured public support

@highlight

Karzai suggested forces should focus on poppy fields that fuel a drug trade